Dreams

Fireflies danced around in the meadow.

Grasses tickled her skin.

The moon shone, full and proud.

Next to her laid a boy of her age.

Brown eyes that shimmered gold, reflecting the dancing fireflies.

Wavy black hair, dark as the night sky.

His hand gripped hers.

A smile plastered on his face, revealing his dimples.

The stars gleamed at them.

Trees swished, swaying the, to sleep.

The milky way revealed its colours as the meteors fell.

Wish after wish.

Giggle after giggle.

Crickets chirped in the background.

A nearby river trickled.

"LiLi?"

"Yes?"

"You'll come back, right?"

"Of course, how else am I supposed to make you my bride?"

"I'll miss you, come back soon okay?"

The boy turned his head, allowing her to see his face in full.

"Okay,"

"Promise?"

"Promise,"

She felt herself smile.

"Xiao Rui,"

"Yes,"

"Don't forget to stay away from other boys,"

"I won't forget,"

She giggled.

"You better not, I don't want my bride to be stolen,"

"Don't worry, I won't let anyone steal me,"

"You better not, and don't forget me,"

"I would never forget you, LiLi!"

"What's my name, then?"

"It's LiLi, silly!"

"What's my full name?"

"It's________"

______________

At that moment, Yaorui woke up from her dream. She'd been having the same dream for the past three months ever since the new year party.

It was now May, quickly nearing the beginning of June.

Her relationship with Samuel was going strong, though there were times when she'd find him all alone and depressed.

Her brother and now soon to be sister in law were awake now, and so were her maternal grandparents.

The final exams were coming up, and she had been studying non-stop for the past few days along with her friends, family and Samuel.

Almost everything was back to normal now, except for her parents, sister, and paternal grandparents.

Sometimes she would catch Samuel having a normal conversation with Hu Angli throwing in a few not so light punches only for Samuel to pay him back.

She remembered when she informed him of her new neighbours about how overprotective and paranoid he had been when he found out. His jealousy reached the point of moving in whenever she returned to her house.

Today they were supposed to head over to the on-campus hospital to check on her remaining family.

Her father had been on the verge of consciousness for the past few months but never woke up. She liked to say it was because he was waiting for his wife, aka her mother.

Her sister was expected to wak up anytime soon, although her paternal grandparents were another story. So far, they have shown no sign of waking up other than some brain activity every now and then.

Aishi had returned to her position of top teen pop star and had already begun to venture into the film industry.

She was so proud of her sister, despite what others said, Aishi still did what she loved, and she did it without using the power and influence of the family.

The hospital was currently bustling with activity, with the exams and assessments coming up, all the medical students were trying their best to raise their marks. Her future sister in law, Wenshi, is one of them.

Did she mention that her eldest brother, Shen Hui had proposed to Xie Fanlong already? Well, if not, he did.

He did it as soon as she woke up, apparently seeing his other half in a coma and relying solely on machines really knocked some sense into his dense brain.

The people she visited first were her grandparents since they were the ones she worried about most.

Like her parents, they shared a bed and were tightly gripping each other's hands. Their faces were blemish-free and wrinkleless, making them seem thirty years younger. But their hair had started to sport a few grey strands.

She stayed by their side for two hours hoping for any signs of them waking up, before moving on to her parent's room.

Their room was right next doors to her grandparent's room and was a direct reflection of their's as well. While they were peacefully sleeping, the couple had managed to keep their former lustre and their youthful looks.

Her mother's hair was cut just a few weeks ago to prevent it from overgrowing, same as her father. But really, she just wanted it to seem like time hadn't passed and that they were the same as they were before she left for school.

Her father had lost some muscle since the time he fell into the coma. She didn't know what she expected, considering the fact that he spent nearly 10 months in a hospital bed.

She was sure that her father would be easily beat if she were to duel with him when he recovered.

Her sister's room was in a separate hall, though still in the same ward.

Anshi was the youngest in the family and was quite mature and well behaved despite all the doting she went through.

Her hair was never cut like her parents were, she knew that she liked it long.

Anshi was always a skinny child and never seemed to gain any weight even though she was a fully-fledged glutton.

But now, her sister had become even skinnier than she was before she fell into a coma. According to the doctors, her twelve-year-old sister was now weighing below 30kgs. They had begun adding more fat into her nutrition bag, but it was hard for her sister to gain weight with her fast metabolism rates.

Yaorui prayed that her sister would wake up soon so that it would be easier for the doctors to get her sister back into a healthy state.

While the nurses went over the equipment and the statistics regarding her sister's wellbeing, Yaorui sat in a hard plastic chair next to the soft bed where her sister lay. Her hand was intertwined with her sister's while her eyes glimmered with hope and wishful thinking.

All of a sudden, the heart monitor began to speed up, the nurses panicked and quickly called for a doctor.

"What is it?!" She asked, "What's happening to my sister?!"

"She is showing signs of waking up, the patient should wake any second now,"

Her world froze, her head turned slowly towards her sister.

Chocolate eyes stared right back at her.

Yaorui choked out a sob.

"Inform my family," She instructed one of her bodyguards.

Not long after, the doctor assigned to her sister rushed in and began to examine her vitals before she moved to tend to her sister.

Yaorui pressed the remote on the side of the bed to bring it up so that her sister was sitting upright. She handed Anshi a glass of water and helped make her comfortable.

"Can you hear me?" The doctor asked.

Her sister nodded.

"Can you wiggle your fingers and toes for me?" Her sister did just that.

"Do you remember your name?"

"A-Anhi,"

"Your sister will need some literary therapy along with the physical therapy by the looks of it," The doctor shone a light into her sister's eyes. "But because she hadn't spoken for about nine months, this is completely normal, I'm sure she'll recover in no time,"

"Thank you, is there anything else to be worried about?"

"Her weight is a problem, now if you don't mind, I'm going to go run some exams on your sister,"

Yaorui thanked her once more before the doctor turned and left with two nurses in tow.

A few minutes later, her brothers arrived with their future wives in tow.

Her cousins arrived next, followed by her maternal grandparents, aunt and uncle, and finally her Aishi, Anshi's twin.

When Anshi realized that their parents and paternal grandparents weren't there, she signed, "Where are they?"

Yaorui being the understanding sister she is, signed back, "Coma,"

Anshi looked more confused and worried than surprised.

"How long was I here in the hospital,"

"Nine months," Yaorui signed back.

Now, Anshi was surprised, a shocked expression clear as glass on her face.

"Will I need to retake the first year?"

Seriously? Nine months in a coma and the first thing she asks is about school?

"Not if you pass the final exams,"

Anshi frowned ever so slightly.

Yaorui backed away from the bed and allowed her other family members to communicate with her youngest sister.

She snuck out and made a call to Samuel to inform of the good news only to bump into him outside of the room.

"What are you doing out here?"

"Well, I was debating whether to come in or not,"

"Why didn't you?"

"I didn't want to disturb your reunion with your sister,"

"But..."

"I wanted to meet your sister,"

Yaorui smiled, "Next time don't be afraid to come in, you're family now," She kissed him on the cheek. "Come on, let's go inside now,"

___________________

Fireflies danced around in the meadow.

Grasses tickled her skin.

The moon shone, full and proud.

Next to her laid a boy of her age.

Brown eyes that shimmered gold, reflecting the dancing fireflies.

Wavy black hair, dark as the night sky.

His hand gripped hers.

A smile plastered on his face, revealing his dimples.

The stars gleamed at them.

Trees swished, swaying the, to sleep.

The milky way revealed its colours as the meteors fell.

Wish after wish.

Giggle after giggle.

Crickets chirped in the background.

A nearby river trickled.

"LiLi?"

"Yes?"

"You'll come back, right?"

"Of course, how else am I supposed to make you my bride?"

"I'll miss you, come back soon okay?"

The boy turned his head, allowing her to see his face in full.

"Okay,"

"Promise?"

"Promise,"

She felt herself smile.

"Xiao Rui,"

"Yes,"

"Don't forget to stay away from other boys,"

"I won't forget,"

She giggled.

"You better not, I don't want my bride to be stolen,"

"Don't worry, I won't let anyone steal me,"

"You better not, and don't forget me,"

"I would never forget you, LiLi!"

"What's my name, then?"

"It's LiLi, silly!"

"What's my full name?"

"It's________"

That night she dreamed the same dream with the same boy that she was meant to marry.